Uranium mining defence force Shermanish

[chrisonord]

As with a lot of the armoured vehicles used by the Uranium mine defence force, this vehicle has been considerably modified to keep it in service. This sherman was originally used to train engineers in the armament factory, and thus went through some pretty drastic changes. Most notably the Soviet KV turret, with a 100mm Soviet gun. The gun fits perfect into the turret, and the sherman hull needed only minor modifications to fit it. The sherman has upgraded suspension from another parts donor tank, and the engine started life fitted in a Caterpillar Bulldozer. Larger side skirts were fitted to try and keep the dust down when on the move, but are not very effective. The tank although originally a students project, became quite a useful piece of kit during the defence of the site from insurgents, during operation Saladin. The Sherman served up until 1971, when it was replaced with rebuilt Centurions. The kit is the Hasegawa 1/72 scale sherman A3E8, and the turret and barrel come from the spares box. The coaxial machine gun barrel come off an AMX 30, I think, and the skirts are made of styrene cut and sanded to shape. Now time for primer.

[kerick]

Looks sharp!

[Supertom]

Somehow, you've made an American tank look more Russian. So wrong....yet so right.

[chrisonord]

Somehow, you've made an American tank look more Russian. So wrong....yet so right.

I shall take that as a compliment 

[chrisonord]

Erm.. Any idea where the comments have gone? 

[Old Wombat]

Erm.. Any idea where the comments have gone? 

You didn't notice that the site was down for a while? 

Paul (overscan) did some extra-curricular work (he's on holidays) & fixed the issue, but had to restore to a back-up & about 12-24 hours of comments, etc., are gone.

[scautomoton]

Erm.. Any idea where the comments have gone? 

I think we need to have a serious discussion about your lack of commitment to the site young man.....

[chrisonord]

Erm.. Any idea where the comments have gone? 

I think we need to have a serious discussion about your lack of commitment to the site young man.....

I did notice that it was down, and wasn't until I read elsewhere found out that some of the threads and posts had been abducted. Me, young, erm.....

[chrisonord]

Main colour is on, clear coat and weathering next. I took a pic of it next to the KV I have on the shelf, they are very similar in size, and proportions.

[Wardukw]

Chris mate thats a smooth paint job ,,,very nice   
I'd have a problem with weathering on such small models ,,i'm so used to 35th and 48th trying to reduce the technic would be a right bugger me thinks .

[chrisonord]

Chris mate thats a smooth paint job ,,,very nice   
I'd have a problem with weathering on such small models ,,i'm so used to 35th and 48th trying to reduce the technic would be a right bugger me thinks .

Cheers Phil, I won't be over doing it, but being a bit old and well used, it begs to be a bit filthy. I have started building the Stuart, and because of the lack of suitable 50 cals in the bits box, I have decided on something a bit more silly. Twin miniguns. I have a few resin minigun barrels, just need a suitable turret to put them in. I am also thinking of a sighting system so the operators don't need to stick their heads out, nothing too. Serious, as miniguns are not exactly known for their pin point accuracy. 

[chrisonord]

Finished, a bit more mucky than I wanted it to be, but it will do.
I also remembered where I got the KV turret from, a few years ago I swapped the turret out for a T-54 turret, and it fits just nicely.

[Rick Lowe]

TBH, with the minis, I'd keep the original turret - lots of room for a single gunner, or maybe a loader/s, though the ammo feeds could come from boxes in the turret basket. More room for the loaders in the lower hull. 

[chrisonord]

TBH, with the minis, I'd keep the original turret - lots of room for a single gunner, or maybe a loader/s, though the ammo feeds could come from boxes in the turret basket. More room for the loaders in the lower hull. 

After looking for suitable parts and a turret to replace the original, I think sticking to the original turret will be the best option. The turret will be unmanned, but have some room for the gunner to be able to do in field repairs, incase of stoppages. I will also need to scratch some empty case chutes on either side of turret too.

[NARSES2]

Looking good mate